SEATTLE, Wash. – After allowing two early goals, the Western Washington University men's soccer team battled back to score the equalizer in the 64^th minute, only to allow a pair of late second-half goals in a 4-2 road loss against rival Seattle Pacific University on Thursday evening in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action at Interbay Soccer Stadium.
 
WWU had its three-game unbeaten streak snapped to fall to 6-5-1 overall and 2-3-1 in GNAC play. Seattle Pacific improved to 7-6-0 overall and 3-3-0 in conference play.
 
"We came out a little flat and did not have a good start," said head coach Greg Brisbon. "We did a nice job of fighting back to tie the game, but unfortunately it was not enough tonight."
 
The Vikings started slow allowing a pair of goals in the first seven minutes of the game. SPU struck first with an early goal at the 2:01 mark coming on a header by Ed Weise off a corner kick by Trevor Lee. Just over four minutes later, Travis Swallow doubled the lead on a 20-yard blast to the top left.
 
WWU collected itself after allowing the second goal, and pulled to within a one-goal margin when junior forward Christian Rotter (Auburn, WA/Auburn Mountainview) scored his first goal of the season at the 16:32 mark. Rotter reached a long, lofted ball from sophomore midfielder Georg Cholewa (Leipzig, German) in the left side of the box, initially controlling the ball with a header. His short boot trickled toward the goal and Weise's clearance attempt caromed off Rotter and back into the goal.
 
The Vikings found the equalizer in the 64^th minute, turning a pair of Falcon turnovers into a scoring opportunity, with junior forward Taylor Allen (Russellville, AR) finding the net with a put-back header from 5-yards out. Cholewa setup the goal with his own header that caromed off the crossbar, where Allen headed the rebound home for his second goal of the season.
 
Much like last year's contest at Interbay, the Vikings trailed 2-0, only to fight back into the game. But unlike last year's 3-2 Viking win, the Falcons regained control scoring a pair of goals in the final 20 minutes to gain the victory.
 
SPU sophomore forward Titus Grant put the Falcons up 3-2 with a 72^nd-minute goal, when he blasted a left-footed strike from the top of the box that curled just inside the far post past a diving Brandon Wolter for his eighth goal of the season.
 
The Falcons put the match away early in the 81^st minute, when Sam Rucklos found a cutting Jake Ferry on the left side of the box, who dribbled once and shot back across the box at a sharp angle to the far post for his third goal of the season.
 
"At the end of the day, our defensive mistakes hurt us," added Brisbon. "When you make mistakes, even little mistakes, against a team like SPU, you get punished for them."
 
The Vikings (6-5-1, 2-3-1) close out their four-game stretch of road games taking on nationally No. 1-ranked Simon Fraser in Burnaby on Sunday at Terry Fox Field at 7 pm. Both matches will stream live via GNAC.tv and YouTube.
 
Follow the Viks: Fans can follow WWU men's soccer online at WWUVikings.com/MSoc, and via social media on Twitter (@SoccerWWU), Instagram (@wwu_msoccer) and Facebook (@WWUsoccermens).